China and UK Issue a Statement on Syrian Issue

2016/01/05

On January 5, 2016, when meeting the press with Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Philip Hammond of the UK after their talks in Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that the two countries jointly issued the "Statement of China and the UK on the Syrian Issue". The full text is as follows:

China and the UK remain deeply concerned by the suffering of the Syrian people, the dire and deteriorating humanitarian situation, the on-going conflict and its persistent and brutal violence, the negative impact of terrorism and violent extremist ideology in support of terrorism, as well as the destabilizing effect of the crisis on the region. The conflict has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.

As permanent members of the Security Council, we voted in favor of the recent Resolution 2254 of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. We will continue to engage actively in the International Syria Support Group and work with countries from around the region to ensure a "Syrian-led and Syrian-owned" political transition based on the 2012 Geneva Communiqué in its entirety which will help bring an end to the war including through the establishment of an inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers, which shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent while ensuring the continuity of the governmental institutions. We both commit ourselves to promoting the political settlement of the Syrian issue. We stress that the Syrian people will decide the future of Syria, with the UN playing the role as the main mediator. We acknowledge the close linkage between a ceasefire and a parallel political process and reconfirm our support for a national ceasefire as set out in the Resolution 2254 of the Security Council.

The humanitarian situation in Syria is extremely serious and requires urgent support. There are 13.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. We call on the international community to do more and we, alongside over sixty other countries, will come together at the London Conference in February to agree how to provide immediate assistance, including responding to the UN's urgent request for further funding, and also provide support over the longer term.

We agree to advance counter-terrorism and a political settlement in parallel. Both our countries face threats from terrorism, and have a shared interest in defeating all terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq as designated by the UN Security Council. We emphasize that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whoever committed. We will continue to support efforts to tackle terrorism and its root causes in the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, including the on-going conflict in Syria.